Coast to Coast” is a summer blog series highlighting some of America’s most imperiled wildlife. By using the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s new state-by-state endangered species map, we will tell stories about native plants and animals in unique landscapes where Defenders will be focusing its conservation efforts in coming years.
Though few in number, the greater sage-grouse is easy to spot. With its hunched shoulders and a puffed white chest, the large, grounded grouse looks like a cross between a turkey and an opera singer. In springtime, males like to put on quite a show as they sashay between the sagebrush and enter their arena. But these brazen birds aren’t fighting to the death; they’re dancing for potential mates. The lucky ladies get to choose the guys with the best moves.
Watch along with a bus full of Idaho high school students, who got to see this delightful dance up close during a field trip last spring:
While these birds put on a dazzling display, they are dependent upon a natural landscape called the “Sagebrush Sea.” Stretching from Washington to Colorado, this arid ecosystem is covered with sagebrush, a key source of food and shelter for sage grouse. Once teeming with trees, streams, wildflowers and hundreds of unique species, the Sagebrush Sea is steadily shrinking. Agriculture development, resource extraction and weed infestation have all contributed to its decline. In recent years, wildfires caused by extreme temperatures and drought have brought even more danger to landscapes across the western United States.
The resulting habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation has taken a toll on sage grouse over the last 50 years. Today, the species is only found in half of its historic range, and sage grouse aren’t the only ones in trouble. From rare pygmy rabbits to migratory birds that stop in the marshes that dot the Sagebrush Sea, hundreds of other species depend on this landscape. To save the sage grouse, we have to save the land that they and other species need to survive.
Sage grouse were denied federal protection in 2004 and are currently stuck in limbo on the list of candidate species. But Defenders isn’t waiting to take action. We’re fighting for stronger protections on our public lands, where energy development threatens important wildlife habitat. We’re also working with our colleagues at The Nature Conservancy and the Sagebrush Cooperative to develop incentives to encourage private landowners to conserve wildlife.
By protecting the Sagebrush Sea, we hope to ensure that America’s grooving grouse continues to have a place to strut his stuff.
A new report released today by the Environmental Working Group and Defenders highlights the massive wildlife habitat loss stemming from unlimited and unregulated crop insurance subsidies like the ones on the pending 2012 farm bill.
New research from the report indicates that, between 2008 and 2011, over 23 million acres of viable wildlife habitat were converted into cropland, particularly in areas of the Midwest and Great Plains. The loss of these wetlands and grasslands now pose a significant risk to the long-term survival of songbirds and waterfowl, as well as several at-risk species, such as swift fox, mountain plover, sage grouse, and lesser prairie chicken. The secondary pollution effects of crops in these areas with the use of chemicals and fertilizers has also been observed, leading scientists to worry that pressure on these species will only increase.
Much of the conversion from wildlife habitat to cropland has occurred as a result of crop insurance subsidies. Because these subsidies lower farmers’ risks of plowing crops in certain vulnerable wetlands and grasslands, they provide greater incentives for farmers to work there and eliminate prime areas of wildlife survival. Further, these crop insurance subsidies are not currently subject to payment limits and conservation requirements.
Sage grouse are one of countless species that rely on private farm land for their survival.
With the release of this report, Defenders and EWG are hoping to influence Congress to make changes in regards to adding conservation requirements as they prepare to outline legislation for the 2012 farm bill. New “conservation compliance” provisions could require growers to implement basic elements of environmental protection as part of an agreement to receive crop insurance subsidies. While there is much work still to be done, it is the hope that this report will highlight the vulnerability of wildlife and allow for genuine impacts on the upcoming farm bill.
To learn more about how crop subsidies contribute to massive habitat losses, please visit this article from EcoWatch.
Saturday may have been another quiet day at the remote Fort Peck Indian Reservation in northeastern Montana, but it also marked another historic moment for the return of pure wild bison to the Great Plains. For the second time in four months, I got to see genetically pure bison from Yellowstone National Park gain new ground at Fort Peck.
The first time was in March, when 61 bison came storming off half a dozen trailers into a two-acre temporary surveillance corral. Since then, 21 calves were born to this small herd of pioneers – the first bison of Yellowstone descent to be born on the Great Plains, the heart of their historic range. Many of these bison had never tasted freedom, as they had lived in a quarantine facility on the edge of Yellowstone for up to five years prior to this move to eradicate a disease called brucellosis.
On Saturday, all 82 bison stampeded out of the corral into a 2,100-acre pasture that will be part of their new home. See my photos below:
Two acres isn't much room for 61 bison and their 21 calves, but keeping them in this temporary surveillance corral helped the animals adjust to their new surroundings at Fort Peck Indian Reservation in northeastern Montana.
Looking on
Robert Magnan with Fort Peck Fish & Game and several community members watch as the bison exit the corral and head into the 2,100-acre pasture.
First steps
This calf takes its first steps ever outside of the two-acre corral where it was born.
Big Sky country
Three adult bison spread out on a hillside in their native habitat.
Herding up
Bison herds, once a familiar sight all across the Great Plains, are making a triumphant return at Fort Peck Indian Reservation.
Powwow
Tribal members at Fort Belknap Indian Reservation celebrate during a summer powwow.
The bison now have free reign of this area. Once they’re settled, an additional 5,000 acres will be added to their home this fall, giving them more than 7,000 acres of grassland to graze and grow their numbers. Additional expansions are very likely, as we look to help the tribes acquire enough land to support at least 1,000 bison—the number scientists estimate is necessary to maintain genetic diversity.
Though it may be a long time before bison are truly “free roaming”, our hope is that these bison will be “wide ranging” enough to once again fulfill their essential ecological role in the Great Plains, while also helping to restore the culture of the people of the region. Tribal elder Iris Greybull was on hand to witness the event and said:
“We have always been known as buffalo people because we followed them, they fed us, they gave us clothes, they gave us our homes, they took care of us… Now the buffalo nations are coming back.”
At Defenders, our hope is that the people of Fort Peck Reservation are just the first of many landowners to offer bison a large home on the plains. The people of Fort Belknap Indian Reservation are also planning to start a new conservation herd of Yellowstone bison, and they have plenty of land to do it.
I attended a powwow at Fort Belknap on Sunday with Mark Azure, the tribes’ bison manager, and – along with two friends from World Wildlife Fund – helped him map the condition of the existing fence around their 22,000-acre area that will one day be home to wild Yellowstone bison. Defenders is assisting with a plan to upgrade the fence where necessary prior to the arrival of the Yellowstone bison, as required by the state of Montana prior to the bison’s return.
Beyond tribal lands, both Montana and federal agencies are looking to restore bison on some of our public lands as well. We look forward to partnering with them to make these plans a reality and see that more wild bison are returned to the Great Plains.
It’s been four months since 61 genetically pure Yellowstone bison made their historic return to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in eastern Montana. (See this blog post to remember how they got there.) Since then, 21 calves have been born at Fort Peck—the first Yellowstone bison to be born on the Great Plains since their ancestors roamed free nearly 150 years ago.
Now, those 82 bison are about to get even more room to roam. On Saturday, all of them will be released from their temporary surveillance corral into a 2,100-acre pasture. Then in fall, the bison will be given access to another 5,120-acre pasture, which will provide a total of more than 7,000 acres of their native habitat! While they still won’t be “free-roaming,” technically speaking (“wide-ranging” may be a more accurate term), these animals now have room to grow. Future expansion of the bison area is also very likely.
It’s been a long road for the bison and the tribes at Fort Peck, so the release on Saturday is really an incredible milestone. Watch part 2 of “The Return of the Bison” from High Plains Films to relive that day in March when the bison finally arrived after waiting so many years. (If you missed our post earlier in the week, click here to watch part 1 first. )
Stay tuned for a report from the field next week as the bison move on to greener pastures.
The story of the return of bison to the Great Plains is an important one that connects many Americans to a troubling part of our nation’s past. These iconic animals simultaneously represent the natural beauty of the Wild West, as well as the thoughtless slaughter of a valuable species and the native people who depended on them.
That’s why, when we had a chance to be a part of historic efforts to restore bison to Montana tribal lands, we hired Emmy Award-winning filmmakers High Plains Films to help us tell our own part of the story. We wanted to share this tremendous accomplishment with wildlife supporters worldwide and show that it is possible to bring back a mighty creature to its rightful place.
So in March, several of us headed out to Montana to join our film crew in documenting the relocation of 61 genetically pure bison from a quarantine facility outside Yellowstone National Park to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in eastern Montana.
Part 1 of “The Return of the Bison” chronicles the history of plains bison and the role that Defenders has played in helping the tribes at Fort Peck bring the bison back to their reservation.
Sage grouse are one of countless species that rely on private farm land for their survival.
In Congress, as in many walks of life, no good deed goes unpunished.
We celebrated two weeks ago when the U.S. Senate passed an amendment to the Farm Bill linking crop insurance subsidies to vital wildlife conservation measures. The provision was noticeably lacking, however, from the version unveiled by the U.S. House of Representatives late last week.
American taxpayers provide billions of dollars each year in subsidies that incentivize farmers to plow under more land. The very least we can do is make sure that vital wildlife habitat isn’t completely destroyed along the way. For example, about 31 percent of sage grouse habitat in the western United States is privately owned and more is plowed under every year. Requiring basic measures that protect soil, water and wildlife is essential to recovering sage grouse and countless other species that rely on America’s working landscapes for their survival.
When the bill is debated in the House later this week, Defenders will be working hard with our allies to make sure funding for these vital programs is restored.
Though few in number, the greater sage-grouse is easy to spot. With its hunched shoulders and a puffed white chest, the large, grounded grouse looks like a cross between a turkey and an opera singer. In springtime, males like to put on quite a show as they sashay between the sagebrush and enter their arena. But these brazen birds aren’t fighting to the death; they’re dancing for potential mates. The lucky ladies get to choose the guys with the best moves.
Defenders of Wildlife leads the pack when it comes to protecting wild animals and plants in their natural communities.
